THUNDER BAY – Kaitlyn Ross isn’t the first two-sport star to come along.
But regardless of how many times it happens, it’s still the sign of a pretty special athlete.
Ross, a catcher with Canada’s national women’s baseball team, which is set to open the Pool A qualifier on Tuesday, an event that will help solidify the field for the Thunder Bay-bound 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation Women’s Baseball World Cup, is also the starting goaltender at Mount Ross University – and a pretty good one at that.
The Redcliff, Alta. native had a 15-4-3 record, a sparkling 1.42 goals against average and a .931 save percentage for the Cougars, and dreams of playing professional women’s hockey someday, after her university career comes to an end in 2025.
Being a catcher and a goaltender, Ross said the two positions allow her to essentially help lead the team from the back-end.
“I think with the two sports, and the positions that I am, goalie and catcher, they’re huge. You’re a brick wall in both of them. You don’t want to allow anything by you. You see the whole field, you see the whole ice, you’re kind of the quarterback of the team and you’re a leader. I think it translates really well from one sport to the other,” said Ross, who led Canada to bronze at the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup.
It's the glove work that connects the two the most, she added.
“Ball lets me have a nice glove in hockey, so I think that’s huge. And in hockey, being a goalie, you’re huge. You’ve got to keep everything in front of you. You’re using whatever body part you can to keep the puck in front of you. It’s the same with catching. You’re using whatever you can to keep the ball in front of you.”
The 22-year-old said she’s not sure at this point if she could pick a favourite sport. Both offer plenty of challenges and both are equally fun to play, she said.
“I think it depends on the time of year and what sport I’m playing,” Ross said.
“Ask me in the winter, I’m going to say hockey. If you ask me in the summer, I’m going to say ball. It depends, but I’m super excited to get going here. It’s an honour to selected and I can’t wait to make memories with these girls.”
Finding the time to stay elite at both sports is a challenge. While similar, they both require different training methods and skill sets.
Goaltenders don’t have to try to hit 80-mile-an-hour fastballs or face down an opposition runner barrelling down the third-base-line, given the protection goalies get in hockey. Catchers don’t have opponents trying to block their view while the ball arrives from the mound.
It’s all about balance, Ross said.
“Even this year, I’ll have a week off before I’m getting right back into hockey again. But I think it comes with a lot of years of experience, figuring out how I can manage the hockey during the winter and the ball during the summer and stay in shape for both of those,” she said.
“It’s definitely not something that’s easy, but with years of work and experience it’s become easier.”
Team Canada coach Anthony Pluta said Ross isn’t alone on the roster, but it’s still pretty incredible what she’s accomplished.
“I think most of the girls are two-way athletes on this team. We’ve got Sena [Catterall] who plays hockey in university. Alizee [Gelinas] plays high-level badminton. We’ve got multiple high-level athletes on this team,” Pluta said.
Canada opens the tournament on Tuesday against Mexico, at Baseball Central, with play shifting to Port Arthur Stadium on Thursday.
